Archive for Uncategorized

The summer solstice has passed, and I’m now seeing back-to-school advertisements. Seriously, a few days ago I was in Hobby Lobby, and I was shocked to see the fall items being stocked, but absolutely blown away to see some Christmas items!!! What this means for me is I need to get going on my summer literary list. Literary list, I call it, because I’m going to include books as well as film. Look for my upcoming reviews on all of these!

Come Together, Fall Apart by Cristina Henríquez – This has been laying around on my shelf for a while. I picked it up, read the first few pages and was Blown. Away. Seriously.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez - Just after picking up book number 1, I saw that Henríquez had published a new book on June 3, 2014. Since I have the attention span of a six-year-old in a candy shop with a gaggle of girls simultanesouly chasing butterflies, I bought it immediately and started reading, setting the other one down. Since Unknown is a novel and Come Together is a collection, I decided to finish the former first.

Seven for the Revolutionby Rudy Ruiz – A book that tells the story of seven Latino immigrants. I think I have a theme going on this summer.

Latino Americansseries by PBS-I’ve really wanted to set aside time to really watch this six-hour documentary. The website features writers like José Martí and Julia Alvarez.

Cesar Chavezwritten by Keir Pearson and Timothy J. Sexton and starring Michael Peña, America Ferrera, and Rosario Dawson. This comes out on DVD on July 22.

Wahoo! I’m off for a long weekend! I hope to squeeze in some reading. Make sure to squeeze in these gems over the weekend:

New poems by Pablo Neruda discovered :: via The Guardian – About twenty new poems – yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Neruda’s poetry is so sensuous, I can only compare it to biting into the flesh of a ripe peach.

Latinos Under- and misrepresented in TV and movies :: via The New York Times – I consider movies/plays/tv to be an extension of literature. Most people don’t think that shows are nothing if there aren’t people writing scripts! This article breaks down what most Latinos could already tell you. Interesting read.

Isabel Allende’s summer reading list :: via her blog – I thought this list would have books that were . . . darker, for some reason. Based on Amazon previews alone, I’d say that I’d be mostly likely to pick up Euphoria by Lily King and We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride.

10 Chicano films for teaching Mexican-American Studies :: via the Huffington Post — And 10 more recommended via social media. I have seen 8 and 9. I plan on reading Bless Me, Ultima by Ruldofo Anaya and . . . y no se lo tragó la tierra by Tomás Rivera, so I’ll hold off on watching the movies. I’ve added what I can to my Netflix lists.

The temperature is finally reaching my sweet spot – around 90 degrees, and I’m enjoying summer activities! Enjoy these tidbits while you relax this weekend:

Domingo Martinez :: via This American Life – I heard Martinez read one of his short stories from The Boy Kings of Texas a few months ago on This American Life while browsing the archives (I like to listen to public radio while I work). Last Saturday they had Martinez back to read “Blunt Force.” I’ll be doing more research on this author and purchasing his book based on these stories. His voice is an authentic and adroit at conveying the Mexican-American experience. Listen to both stories here.

Reading Rainbow is Back! :: via Kickstarter – If you love books, you’ve probably already heard of this, or even contributed to this Kickstarter campaign. Growing up with Reading Rainbow only reinforced my LOVE of books growing up. I was so sad when it was cancelled, so when my husband heard of this campaign he actually called me at work to tell me about it. As I write this, Levar Burton has raised almost 2.5 million dollars to bring Reading Rainbows to more kids and more classrooms. I didn’t know there are apps for the Kindle and iPad for my 3-year old to enjoy! Excuse me while I go download those immediately.

Latino Kids and Classical Music :: via NPR – The story of conductor Sonia Marie De Leon De Vega, who is bringing classical music to Latino families in Los Angeles.

So, I know I haven’t been around for a while . . . but it’s because I have great news – I’m employed! With the job I got a lot of craziness going on, but I’m back to blogging!

I hope everyone had a great día de Acción de Gracias. It’s my second-favorite holiday!

I love this painting of the benevolent Pilgrims breaking bread with the Indians. I also found this old article in which a historian explains that the first Thanksgiving was actually held by a Spaniard. They ate frijoles, of course.

Ethnic Studies Myths :: via Tucson Weekly – I had hoped for a little more after seeing the title of this article. If you don’t know all the Arizona players, it’s a little confusing. But this article does go a lot deeper in the tit-for-tat politics surrounding the Arizona ban on Mexican-American ethnic studies than other sources. I love the tone.

Mexican Studies = Hitler Youth :: via Huffington Post – What we are learning this weekend is that Mexican-American studies programs inspire young students to overthrow the U.S. government, convert them to practice cult religions, and teach them that Latinos in the U.S. used to be oppressed. Because banning Mexican-American studies is not currently oppressing any one group.